Abhishek Sharma Accuses Pakistani Bowlers of Triggering Him Unnecessarily, Which Led to Heated Verbal Spat

Abhishek Sharma gives his opinion on the heated verbal battles with the Pakistani pacers.

Abhishek Sharma Accuses Pakistani Bowlers of Triggering Him Unnecessarily, Which Led to Heated Verbal Spat

Abhishek Sharma and Haris Rauf (Image via CricBuzz X)

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The India vs. Pakistan Round 2 contest in the ongoing Asia Cup came to an end in Dubai. It was a better fought contest by Pakistan than their dismal performance in group stage, however, eventually, India took the win, proving once again why they are the current T20I champions in the world.

However, just like how the no-handshake fiasco took over the social media last time around, it was the on-field spat between players that caught the attention of everyone. India vs. Pakistan matches are famous for the aggression the players would show against each other in the yesteryear.

However, the last 10 years saw the two teams act rather kindly with each other on the field, which often killed the spice that existed in this cricket rivalry. Well, the ‘Super 4’ clash reignited the spark with the Indian openers getting involved in some verbal volleys with the Pakistani pace spearheads.

It started from the very first ball of the Indian batting innings when Abhishek Sharma hit Shaheen Afridi for a six, and both players had an exchange of words. In the initial part of the match, Afridi had a few words to say to the Indian openers, however, the batting duo responded in style with some classy shots in the powerplay of Afridi’s bowling.

Soon after, Haris Rauf joined who has had quite a history with the Indian team in the past. As it appeared, it was Rauf who poked the Indian openers, who then responded with words before hitting a few boundaries off his bowling as well.

The way they (Pakistan team) were coming out to us without any reason, I did not like it at all. That’s why I went after them. I wanted to deliver for the team.

Abhishek Sharma said in the post-match presentation

Matters really escalated after the final ball of the fifth over. Shubman Gill hit Rauf for four. As Rauf turned back, Gill was seen irking Rauf, which the bowler turned back and replied to. Abhishek Sharma got involved too and both players were very close to each other in their argument before umpire Gazi Sohel intervened to separate the players.

Abhishek Sharma and India continue their dominance over Pakistan

Pakistan was extremely off color in the first meeting between the two teams last Sunday. However, the chaos and outside noise in the week that followed seemed to have triggered a switch in them, which then burst against India.

The men in green had come with a clear intention of attacking the Indian bowlers right from the word go and took down the big names. Jasprit Bumrah bowled a rare expensive spell, and Pakistani opener Sahibzada Farhan got under his skin big time.

India convincingly beat Pakistan once again at the 2025 Asia Cup.
Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill (via Hindustan Times)

Pakistan was 91 after the first 10 overs and looked set for a big finish before India pulled things back with the help of Shivam Dube. In that middle overs phase, Pakistan could only accumulate 38 runs in a span of 7 overs, losing 3 wickets. There was a late flourish from the batters to make their score reach 171, but the slowness in the middle probably robbed them of a certain 200+ total.

India’s fielding was the worst it has been in a while with 5 catches going down. However, the Indian batters quickly brushed away the blues of the first innings as both Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill tore into the Pakistan bowling from ball one.

All the hard work that Pakistan had done in their turn to bat was washed away in that very first powerplay itself when India raced to 69/0 before reaching their 100 in the 9th over. Sharma was the highlight as he was rather easily clearing the long boundaries in Dubai.

His 74 off 39 killed the chase with the other just having to complete the remaining formality. There was a slow period in the Indian innings as well, where wickets fell quickly to add to the trouble. However, the platform set by the openers put India well ahead in the match that any small bump wasn’t going to do much damage. Eventually, India emerged victorious as they chased the target with 7 balls and 6 wickets to spare.

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